MY CHEQUERED PAST
Over 50 YEARS A SONGSMITH
My songs have always been a reflection of the many roads I've travelled over the decades since I first slung a guitar over my shoulder to tackle life as a performing songwriter & balladeer.
2024 marks 50 years since I first (at thirteen) appeared on CHEK TV's Daybreak Show w/Bruce Payne, to perform some of his earliest original songs.
the early years
My earliest performances date back to 1972 with the Hillcrest Elementary School Folk Band in Coquitlam, BC , where I sang and played upright bass. This experience quickly led to a neighborhood Rock & Roll garage band called "Nitro" (1973-74).
By 1975, I was busking full-time on Vancouver's streets and haunting all the "Hippy Havens" of the day: Wreck Beach, Kitsilano & Gastown, where song circles and drum circles were commonplace, and Folk Clubs proved a learning ground for a fledgling artist.
SUMMERTYME
In 1977, I teamed up with Joe McDonald, beginning with restaurants, and then working the Irish Pub circuit as “Summertyme”.
Over a few years, the duo developed a variety of skills: I would lead the audience in sing-alongs and do vocal impressions, while Joe provided keyboards, harmonica, pennywhistle, bagpipes, juggled and ate fire!